


More Than That

by blueglitters (orionstarlight)



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Promises, angst with an ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29596368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orionstarlight/pseuds/blueglitters
Summary: The rain in his ears is louder than his thoughts, but not his words.There must have been signs. There must have been, and yet he missed them.Episode Seven, the continuation
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 14
Kudos: 177





	More Than That

* * *

“Reki…”

_You and ADAM are nothing like me._

_Do whatever you like._

_You crazy geniuses can skate with each other as much as you want._

_I can’t keep up._

_You and I aren’t a good match anymore._

The rain in his ears is louder than his thoughts, but not his words. Not the words that linger, burn his skin despite the cold, break an already broken heart.

There must have been signs. There must have been, and yet he missed them. Missed every sentence Reki left unspoken where he stood on the ground when he was flying.

He tries moving forward, nearly trips. Was he supposed to know? How did he not know? Why didn’t Reki—

No. It’s not his fault. Neither of them could have known it would come to this.

“Reki!” he cries, looking up from the ground that’s making his shoes damp. “Don’t leave me here!”

He stops for a few seconds, hunches his shoulders, and for a moment he thinks he’s going to turn around, but then he keeps going, not even sparing him a glance. If he were someone else, he’d give up here and now, but he’s not someone else.

And if the dampness of his shoes makes running uncomfortable, he ignores it, focuses on pulling Reki back to him, looks at the tears in his eyes through his own glassy vision, trying not to choke.

“What? I don’t wanna talk about this, Langa, just please… Go,” he whispers, looking away, and that last word crushes his windpipe, makes him choke.

“When did it start?” he asks, persistent. “When did it—”

“I don’t wanna talk about it! Don’t you get that?”

“But you need to,” says Langa, and it’s barely louder than a breath, but it makes Reki look at him all the same.

Reki wipes at his cheeks with the back of his palm that he pulls from Langa’s grasp, less harshly this time. “What I need doesn’t matter, does it? Nothing about me matters.”

He tries to turn away, the gate to go home right there, but Langa is faster, of course he is, and he steps in front of him, takes his face in his hands and _makes_ him look at him, because he _needs_ the eye contact right now.

“I care. I care about you, about your feelings, about everything. But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t know! Because I didn’t even know the spotlight was on you until someone pointed out I wasn’t there under it with you! All you really seem to care about is ADAM, about the thrill! Everybody I assumed that as soon as my injuries were healed, so was I, but I’m not! Because every time I see his face or hear his name, I remember it all!

“Do you know what it’s like to have the person who has always been there for you flash before your eyes when you need them most, and then find out they’re never going to be there for you again? Because I do. And it hurts, Langa. It hurts so much.”

The anger is impossible to miss this close, the cheeks flushed red, the tears he doesn’t bother cleaning up anymore, the heavy breathing. If it wasn’t obvious before, it is almost painfully now.

Langa does it without thinking — he pulls his sleeve down, his hand comes up, he wipes at his cheeks. He tries to say something, anything, but he doesn’t know where to begin. _If_ he should begin.

“I know you couldn’t know,” sniffs Reki. “But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“I’m sorry,” are the first words out of his mouth, whether he should be apologising or not. “I never thought of ADAM as anything more than an opponent. I didn’t consider… he was more than that to you.”

It’s awfully silent as they try to figure out where to go from here. There’s more that needs to be said, discussed, but every word is heavy, weighs tonnes and seems impossible to lift.

Langa looks into his eyes again, eyes that used to hold the world in them, and finds them empty short of anything but sadness. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from spiralling, being left behind, and he hadn’t been there to catch him.

He hadn’t been there to help him regain his balance, save him from falling from a height he believes he can’t reach.

“I stopped coming back for you, and that’s on me. I thought you’d always be there behind me, but I was wrong. And I don’t want that anymore.

“Skating is fun, but… it’s not the same without you. Whether I go even higher doesn’t matter if you’re not there with me. Not behind me, not standing in the crowd, cheering me on. I want you by my side, flying _with_ me.”

“Don’t say stuff you don’t mean,” he snaps, trying to walk around him.

Langa’s hand catches Reki’s, intertwines their fingers together, forces him to catch the blue eyes that are so serious it makes him stop breathing.

“I’ve never lied to you, Reki. I’m not going to start now. Not after all you’ve done for me.”

And he’s done a lot, these last few months. More than Langa could ever repay him for, more than anyone could ever repay him for.

“You’re still going to skate against him, though, aren’t you? If you can?” Langa takes a moment.

“I have to. I have to know if I can do it.”

He understands, to some extent. If he weren’t scared out of his mind, he’d want to be able to share in that same excitement. He looks down at where his hand holds Langa’s, at the footing it provides him with.

“Then make me a new promise.” He stares straight at him. “If there’s even a chance you’re in danger, you’ll back out. No matter what.”

Their fingers change position, so their pinkies are linked. “Okay. I’ll back out.”

They shake on it, and Langa is finally ready to let him go, but this time Reki is faster, pulls him in and holds onto him like he’s going to turn into air and disappear.

“I can’t lose you. Don’t make me lose you.” He pulls back, the rain still pouring, but that’s the last thing he could care about right now.

He moves the hair that’s matted itself to Reki’s forehead, smiles at him gently, and then brings their faces so close together their noses touch. He stays like that for a good few seconds, just having him near.

“You’re not going to lose me. Neither of us are going to lose each other. Ever.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> [my ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/erissapphic)


End file.
